Saturday, January 30th

Today I returned to the Hawke’s Bay Opera House for the New Zealand Syrah Symposium. James Halliday, one of the most respected experts in Australia, opened the conference with a lecture on Australian Shiraz.

Australia has taken a big hit in the United States market recently, having lost its luster and status as the wine to buy in the under $10 retail range. New regions have been discovered by the public – from Argentina, to South Africa and New Zealand which are more in vogue right now.

The time zone makes it a challenge to taste Australian Shiraz with alcohol levels above 15 % before breakfast! We were taken on a tasting journey around Australia from the hot regions of Barossa Valley, Mclaren Vale, to the cooler climate of Margaret River and Western Australia. Wine styles vary greatly and it was a real eye opener to see how Shiraz can be so different from place to place.

This was confirmed again in the afternoon by Tim Atkin (Master of Wine) who had selected 10 Syrahs from different countries for us to taste blind, including one from Israel!

Rod Easthope, winemaker for Craggy Range presented six Syrahs from the 2008 vintage. Though still very young and with strong oak influence, there were some common elements shared between them all; with flavors of black pepper, dried herbs, complex earthy notes, dried black cherries, an array of perfumes. My favorites were:
Church Road Reserve Syrah with aromas of clove, black pepper and chocolate. It had a broad mouth feel with generous black cherry flavors, and Craggy Range Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2008 with brighter notes of cherry mocha, white pepper and a brambly texture.

They have a different method to taste wine in formal tastings in New Zealand. In the United States, it common for the presenter to talk you through the wines while you are tasting. In New Zealand, you are allotted a certain amount of time, say 30 minutes for eight wines, and during that time you take all your tasting notes before any information is given. Everyone sits in complete silence apart from the sipping and slurping of wine. It has taken me some time to get used to tasting in this way, but I enjoy having my complete focus on the wine and going at my own pace a little bit more.

More to come!

Cheers,

Patrick